A lot of you reading this won’t agree, but I think almost every single ‘smaller’ RPG that Square Enix has released over the last decade or so suffers from the same problem: bad pacing.
To be fair, this isn’t just a Square Enix problem. Modern gaming in general seriously struggles to tell well-paced stories thanks to the rise of open world busywork and the visual novel-ification of dialogue delivery.
That latter shift in particular has, in my opinion, had a devastating impact on Japanese RPGs, where you’re forced to sit through obnoxiously long conversations between characters who just repeat the same plot points to each other over and over again.
Oh, and every party member has to have a line, too, no matter how superfluous.
I’m veering into a ramble of my own here so I’ll get to the point: Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy are both plagued by excruciatingly dull dialogue scenes that consistently sap the story’s — and the overall game’s — momentum.
And for the record, I quite like those games — I just wish they’d stop yapping at every possible opportunity.
So with this in mind, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales caught my attention when it was announced last year — an action RPG made by the same team behind the aforementioned titles.
I’m looking at it thinking there’s no way they can stuff this one with never-ending word soup, given that it’s supposed to be a faster-paced outing. It might be just what the doctor ordered.
And thankfully, it seems to have delivered. At least, based on the opening hours that are included in the new ‘Prologue Demo’.
I blasted through this thing and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, granted, it does still like to gob off here and there, but it’s definitely not the kind of pace-destroying dialogue that permeates so much of Square Enix’s recent output.
In fact, I thought the pacing was really bloody good. Everything from the dialogue, to the exploration, to the combat, to the puzzles… All pretty much flawless.
I’m sure this has been said a million times by now, but The Adventures of Elliot feels like Square Enix’s (typically flowery) take on The Legend of Zelda, and that’s no bad thing.
You’ve got your overworld, your dungeons, and your environmental obstacles that can only be dealt with once you’ve unlocked certain weapons or abilities. There are keys, boss keys, big boss battles, and you can cut down long grass to gather tiny amounts of currency.
But I think where the demo shines is in how satisfyingly tactile it feels to play. It’s a pleasantly smooth action adventure; your attacks have just the right amount of weight to them, and everything’s super responsive.
To be fair you’d expect no less from what is essentially sprites running around pixelated semi-3D maps, but it really is a delight to breeze through.
But again, that relative brevity is what I was hoping to find going in. I’ve got no doubt that in the full game, there are going to be times when tedious exposition takes centre stage, but I can live with that as long as the gameplay flows just as nicely as it does in the demo.
So yeah, consider me cautiously optimistic. I think The Adventures of Elliot could end up being something of a sleeper hit, although part of me is a bit worried about its eye-watering £54.99 price tag; for many, it’ll have to reach some very impressive highs to warrant that kind of investment.
What are your thoughts on The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales? Wonder if Square Enix will ever hire someone to come up with better names in the comments section below.
